SINGAPORE - A variant of an all-terrain armoured vehicle operated by the Singapore Army could be used by the United States Army in the future, as it seeks a new vehicle that can move personnel and supplies in the extreme weather of the Arctic region.
In a statement on Monday (April 5), American firm Oshkosh Defense said that it had been selected - along with its partner ST Engineering - to participate in the prototype phase for the US Army's Cold Weather All-Terrain Vehicle (CATV).
The Oshkosh CATV, which is yet to be built, is derived from the Bronco 3, which is "a member of the proven, highly effective, and reliable Bronco family of vehicles by ST Engineering", said Wisconsin-based Oshkosh.
With the CATV, the US Army is looking to replace Small Unit Support Vehicles that have been in service since the early 1980s.
The amphibious Bronco All Terrain Tracked Carrier, which can move through mud, swampy areas and water, was introduced into the Singapore Army in the early 2000s. It has also been used by British troops in Afghanistan.
According to ST Engineering's website, there are more than 40 Bronco variants. The vehicle can be configured to support a wide variety of mission sets for modern armed forces, from combat support to combat service support missions.
Defense News website reported that the US Army has awarded contracts to two vendors in the competitive prototyping effort: the team from Oshkosh Defense and ST Engineering, and a team from British aerospace firm BAE Systems.
It also reported that extreme cold-weather testing and evaluation is set to take place in Alaska at the Cold Regions Test Center from August to December.
Oshkosh said the prototypes will be evaluated on payload, mobility, crush resistance, swimming, and transportability. The US Army has announced plans to issue a follow-on production contract for up to 200 CATVs in FY2022, it added.
President and head of land systems at ST Engineering Lee Shiang Long said: "The new vehicle design will be built with the combined expertise of Oshkosh Defense and draws on the rich heritage of the Bronco family of vehicles, a proven, robust and versatile articulated platform which has been in operation since 2001."
Mr Pat Williams, who is Oshkosh's vice president and general manager of US Army and US Marine Corps programmes, said that he was confident that the Oshkosh CATV will enable soldiers to efficiently move personnel and supplies in the most extreme conditions.
The Bronco family of vehicles has undergone more than 1,860 miles (2,993km) of performance testing in arctic conditions as well as over 200,000 miles (321,868km) in operations on harsh desert terrain, said Oshkosh.
Mr Kelvin Wong, a defence technology specialist and editor with open-source defence intelligence provider Janes, said that currently there is a limited number of suppliers that can meet US Army requirements, with only a handful of manufacturers having the technical know-how to construct these specialised vehicles.
Aside from ST Engineering's vehicles, there is only BAE Systems, China's Guizhou Jonyang and Russia's Vityaz DT series all-terrain tracked transporters, he said.
"We can safely exclude the Chinese and Russian vehicles from the US Army programme for obvious reasons, so that leaves only ST Engineering Land Systems/Oshkosh Defense and BAE Systems as the only viable contenders," he said.
While the Bronco is a solid offering, Mr Wong said that it faces stiff competition against BAE Systems as the incumbent, having supplied the original Small Unit Support Vehicles currently in use by the US Army.
BAE Systems has also delivered thousands of Bv206S all-terrain carriers to military and civilian organisations in over 25 countries, he noted. In comparison, the Singapore Armed Forces is the only major operator of the Bronco.
"That would no doubt factor into the US Army's consideration," he said.
